Violent tornado outbreaks, like the storms that tore through parts of St. Louis and London, Ky ., on May 16, have made 2025 seem like an especially active, deadly and destructive year for tornadoes. The United States has had more reported tornadoes than normal -- more than 960 as of Thursday , according to the National Weather Service's preliminary count. That's well above the national average of around 660 tornadoes reported by that point over the past 15 years, and it's similar to 2024 -- the